Six of the Best Games for Your Contact Centre

Need to boost morale in the contact centre? Why not try a game or a fun aside that can allow a little time off the phones and channel the competitive elements.

Call Centre Helper takes a look at six contact centre games that we have come across recently.

Games you can make yourself

1. LUDO

LUDO is a game that Lawrence Lavell, from LSL Property Services, said that their sales agents loved and were always asking for.

Lawrence Lavell

LUDO is a simple board game. If an agent books an appointment they get one roll, if they close off business they get two rolls and if they hit the daily target they can get another two rolls of the dice.

The agents work in teams and the first team to get to the end wins a bigger prize. This can be something like a £10 Marks and Spencer voucher.

“The thing I love about games is that it promotes healthy competition, which can be transferred onto the phone lines.” Lawrence Lavell, LSL Property Services.

2. Space Race

Space Race is a quality-based game, where people get to move forward based on their quality scores.

The game consists of a large roll of paper that is hung from the ceiling to the floor.

There are 7 different levels that move from the Earth through the Stratosphere and up to the Moon. The exact levels are Launch Pad, Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Space and the Moon.

The game is played out over a period of 7–8 weeks. Every week that an agent passes their QA they get to advance one square towards the Moon. If they fail their QA, they drop back two squares. If an agent fails a mandatory part of their QA , they drop back to Earth and have to start again.

When a player gets to the Moon they win a reward.

You can adapt the game in a number of ways, for example, with multipliers for the team with the most improved QA score. You could also have interim prizes for hitting different squares along the way.

3. Virtual stock market

Kevin Phoenix recently did a game based on a virtual stock market, where the prices fluctuated based on the demand for stock from other agents.

“We based our stock on the products we sell. In a sense it was a stockmarket game, but it was also a market game. Agents were given credits, which they could spend on products, which they then had to sell, in order to earn more credits. There were only a limited number of each product, though, so if it was a really easy product to sell, people snapped up the stock/shares then sold them back on the market for a profit,” explained Kevin.

People didn’t have turns, the game was constantly live. They could buy and sell whenever they wanted, if they had 30 seconds between calls they might check to see what was out there. If they purchased shares in a product they couldn’t shift they might put it back on at a lower price to free up some credits that they could then invest elsewhere.

The game ran for a month. It took a week for everyone to get into it, which can be an issue with some of the more interesting games.

“We did it to try something a bit more engaging that would involve tactical play. I think it worked quite well, and most agents seemed to have fun,” explained Kevin.

Commercial contact centre games

It’s not always easy to make up your own contact centre games. It may be faster to buy an off-the-shelf version.

Here are three commercial contact centre games that could be useful.

4. Personality Poker

Personality Poker is a commercial card game that is used to help give personality-based feedback to team leaders. It has to be done with an established group, it won’t work on a new one. One of our readers, Graham Jones, has found it to be highly effective.

All the team leaders sit round a table and are dealt 9 cards each, except for one, who has 10.

Each team leader has three cards face up in front of them saying ‘more like this’, ‘like this’ and ‘less like this’.

The person who has 10 cards then puts one of their cards against one of the 3 mentioned above to another team leader, saying ‘you should be more like this’.

The idea is that each team leader should end up with 9 cards that they feel best describe them in their hand, and in front of them will be how others see them. They then have the opportunity to discuss it.

“This way they are self-constructive to each other. This can lead to a wider discussion or it can be used at the next 1-2-1 session,” said Graham.

This game would probably not work with call centre agents who may not know each other too well. It may also be a problem where people don’t like others, so it may be hard to accept the feedback.

5. Battleships

Battleships is an online version of the classic game.

Battleships is all about spending reward points to find hidden ships. If a game player finds a ship they will be given a randomly selected prize from those entered by the game administrators. Once a ship has been found, other game players can try to add points and pick up additional prizes from the same ship, as long as they can work out which way the ship is lying.

What triggers a ‘go’ is down to the game administrators. They can choose what metrics reward points are given for. It might be for making a sale. Bonus points may be awarded for up-selling, the choice is completely down to the administrators. Once enough reward points have been accumulated, a game user can then take a turn.

Players win a prize by revealing a square where a ship is hidden. If the game administrators allow, they can also win a prize for gaining a certain position in the overall points leaderboard at the end of the game.

6. Track Racing

This is in many ways a little like an updated version of snakes and ladders

The aim of the game is to move around the board as fast as you can. Along the way you may hit the turbo squares and be given a useful boost. You’ll also be given the opportunity to win spot prizes as you go along. Be careful, though, as you may hit an oil patch and spin back a few squares.

After a game user has collected enough points to take a go, they can roll the dice and their car will move around the board. At the end of each go a game user will be given a chance to win a spot prize by car pedal fruit machine. If they pick the correct pedal they will win a prize. The eventual winner will be the game user who has travelled the furthest when the game deadline has been reached.

There are several ways you can win. Firstly, you can win spot prizes as you go around by picking the correct pedal in the pedal fruit machine. You can win the overall game by travelling the furthest around the track. If the game administrators decide, you can also win a prize for gaining a certain position in the overall points leaderboard at the end of the game.

Gareth Whitehead, Corporate Account Manager at Sytner, said about the game “The staff loved it, it was simple to administrate and I constantly get asked about when we are going to be doing the next incentive.”

Both Battleships and Track Racing are available from Incentive Maker. The games cost £5 per employee per month.